In this Discussion

Freezing food is still raw!

I have been reading a few posts about whether freezing a food removes its enzymes and leaves it non-raw or not. So, I decided to test it out.

I packed a handful of wheat berries in a freezer bag and left it in my freezer for like 5 days. Then I tested them by seeing if they would spout. Lo and behold, by the second day, they had little sprouts coming out of them! This shows that frozen food can still keep its enzymes in tact. I have yet to find a way to test other foods. Hope this helps to clear up the issue!

I have written this somewhere else on gone raw too but can’t remember the thread… All seeds from temperate climates that have freezing winter conditions will survive being frozen, some may actually need to be frozen before they can germinate (sprout). Another thing to test would be pineapple. Pineapple has an enzyme in it called bromalin, this enzyme is strong enough to digest meat if added to it, for example people who marinade meat in a mix including pineapple will not have much meat left! (and serves them right for eating it – lol!) You could try frozen and unfrozen pineapple and see if the bromalin survives the freezing. My guess is that at least some of it would.

This test uses the enzyme peroxidase (found in plant foods) to catalyze the transfer of electrons from hydrogen peroxide to a colorimetric indicator. Peroxidase is an indicator enzyme frequently used by laboratories to measure enzymatic activity when freezing, blanching, and heat-treating vegetables. This test was recommended to us by Dr. John Whitaker, a world known enzymologist and a former dean of the Nutrition and Food Science Department at UC Davis.

1. Dehydrate a batch of vegie burgers. Vegie burgers work well because they are made with various plant foods and will contain a high level of peroxidase. 2. Place a fully dehydrated vegie burger in 8 oz. of 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and let it rehydrate for several hours. 3. After at least 2 hours filter out the solubles using a fine strainer. A nylon or paper towel will work well if you don't have a strainer. 4. Check the color of the hydrogen peroxide solution. If the peroxidase enzymes are active they will catalyze a chemical reaction with the hydrogen peroxide and turn it to a brown color. This will also show that the enzymes were not destroyed.

My question is that wouldn’t any liquid off of a veggie burger be brownish? I imagine you could compare the color to an unfrozen burger to see if there is a difference in color. Maybe it comes out really dark. Has anyone tried this test? Also sorry for the wide post but I can’t figure out how to fix it. Changing the spacing seems to make it worse but at least you have the info!

The Rawtarian Community

The Rawtarian Community is one of the largest online raw food communities. In addition to this community forum, you can browse and search thousands of community recipes added by over 5000 talented Rawtarian Community members just like you!

The Rawtarian Community Forum

This information is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. I encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with like-minded, qualified health care professional(s). I wish you success on your raw journey!

You currently do not have Javascript enabled! This site will not function correctly unless Javascript is enabled.